Police to use new technology for fingerprint recognition of criminals

03 Oct Police to use new technology for fingerprint recognition of criminals

BENGALURU: The police have decided to deploy state-of-the-art technology for fingerprint recognition to quickly identify offenders and criminals.

The department will soon float tenders for the development of a software with which the police can take fingerprints of arrested suspects or criminals on a handheld device. The print will be compared with the existing fingerprint database of criminals.

The department, additional DGP (crime & technical services) Bhaskar Rao said, had commissioned a study by PwC on the fingerprint database system in the state and the consultancy has submitted a 800-page report on how to improve the criminal tracking system by adopting new ways of fingerprint technologies. All fingerprints in the police fingerprint bureau have been digitised paving the way for the development of the proposed software.

Rao added that the department is inviting a tender for software which will be installed on the tablets and mobile phones of policemen deployed as Hoysala patrol teams. If policemen encounter anyone walking suspiciously or they arrest a criminal, they can take their fingerprints digitally on the screen and the image is immediately sent to the central database to see if it matches with any of the criminals nabbed before.

Additional DGP Alok Mohan (Law and Order) said such initiatives are the need of the hour in Bengaluru which is growing fast both in population and in the number of crimes.

The Bengaluru police had earlier decided to adopt a technology to enhance poor-quality images and match faces with their mug-shot database to identify potential suspects.

Later, the department had decided that by installing face-recognition cameras in the city or at public events, it can identify repeated offenders.

Ten years ago, the police department had installed facial-recognition cameras in the Majestic bus station to recognise repeated offenders like chain-snatchers, pickpockets and others. The police used to upload photographs of the offenders and ask them to walk in front of the cameras but the cameras failed to recognise them and alert the police.Hence, the police dropped the face recognition system and are now taking to the fingerprint route where a lot of data already stored can be put to instant ..

Bhaskar Rao added that if other states too share their fingerprint databases with the National Fingerprints Bureau, the police can deal with the identification of interstate criminals through the software.
bibliogaphy
Yadav, Umesh, “Police to use new technology for fingerprint recognition of criminals.” Economictimes.com. The Economics Times, Web. 29 Aug. 2016.